Pendragon is often (and rightly) lauded for its generational legacy campaign, and its attention to detail in the setting and the myth. However, there is plenty for each knight to do and plenty of variety to create different characters with different strengths. While you are a little stuffed if playing a knight doesn’t appeal, there are options for playing ladies and sorcerers, and even female knights (which may be ‘historically inaccurate’, but it’s all based on a myth anyway). However, what this allows Pendragon to do is focus on one particular type of character and tailor each adventure specifically for them. Given the character potential of the Middle Ages, a game where you only play knights might seem rather limiting. As the campaign progresses, the player characters become richer and more powerful, perhaps even advancing to the Round Table. When player characters get old and retire, they can leave their land and even some of their reputation to their eldest heir to continue and advance their dynasty. So as characters age they retire, handing the title of player character on to their sons and daughters. Obviously, if your characters are experienced knights by the time the boy-king takes the throne, they’ll be pretty frail and old by the time Mordred leads his army against an aging Arthur. Pendragon comes with a vast and detailed timeline that takes characters from the time before Arthur, through his reign and finally to the tragic fall of his kingdom. However, by the era of Arthur we don’t just mean the time he was king. In Pendragon, your characters are all knights in the era of King Arthur. The main exception being the 4th edition, which adds a magic system that is potentially usable by player characters. Since its creation, Pendragon has passed through five editions and three different companies, but has remained largely unchanged.
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The cover by Jodie Lee and interior illustrations by Lisa A Free are among some of the best RPG artwork of the time, and one of the things that initially attracted me to the game. Pendragon appeared in 1985, in one of Chaosium’s gorgeous boxed sets. Just in case you are new to Pendragon, I should start with a little detail about the game itself. If you are new to Pendragon I hope this gets you to learn more about it, and ideally play it at some point. It’s a game that every game designer should take a look at, as there is a lot to learn from it, from one of our most talented (and now sadly missed) game creators.
In this article I’ll attempt to back up my rather sweeping statement, and in doing so point out just how cleverly written the Pendragon system is.